My writeup on Scrumconnect Consulting journey that will soon be published as a case study on my alma mater site Imperial college London MBA.

What gave you the idea for your business?

My wife Shilpa Kaluti and Co-Founder of Scrumconnect Consulting gave me the idea of creating the firm when I was complaining about my boss and work culture.

We wanted to create a company where we have no boss but build a company around the values that are important to us around Autonomy, Humility, Learning Mentality i.e. I don’t know it all mentality.

We saw a gap in the market where clients needed outcomes to deliver at pace and quality however building a high performing team was taking time. So our secret sauce is “ready-made hyper-productive teams to help clients deliver projects at pace. We do the hard work in hiring talented individuals, create an environment for them to thrive and deliver value to clients”.

We filled the gap by hand-picking the best individuals for a specific project with benefits of building high-performing teams quickly & effectively, quick ramp-up and delivering key roadmap projects at pace.

Today Scrumconnect Consultancy has over 120 consultants working for us across the UK.

Whilst I believe Scrumconnect Consulting still has a way to go before it becomes the kind of organisation we think it should be. I can’t resist sharing some of my favourite soundbites that show how hard we are working towards our vision

How did it feel when your business launched?

We were initially very nervous as it was just when our first child was born, Shilpa was on maternity leave, the market crashed and we had around £600 bank balance after paying full year fees for my MBA! With no money in the pocket, I was still full of energy and feeling that I can take on the world!.‍

What was the greatest challenge you faced in starting out?

Chicken and egg situation. We needed good clients to attract good people to work for us.

Amongst other challenges include – financing, balancing expenditure with early revenue streams, increasing staff numbers and often bringing in a leadership team offering a new range of skills.‍

What have been the key lessons learned from the whole process? Any advice to budding entrepreneurs?

Find your WHY? WHY is the purpose, cause or belief that drives you and your company. Your WHY is the one constant that will guide you toward fulfilment in your work and life.Cash is the oxygen of the business- oxygen is cash. Without cash, a business does not survive.

Cash flow – the constant inflow and outgo of cash in a business operation – is literally the lifeblood of a businessBe obsessed with customer needs and solving their pain points.

What has been the highlight so far?

Grew the business from 5 people to 120 people in the last 2 years.

£13m in revenues We are really proud of what we are doing – helping our clients build some key national services at DWP, Department of International Trade, HMPPS, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Home Office, Defra etc. The services we co-created with our client are

We are really proud of what we are doing – helping our clients build some key national services at DWP, Department of International Trade, HMPPS, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Home Office, Defra etc. The services we co-created with our client are positively impacting around 14m+ people so far working on Brexit projects – Defra Fisheries keeping borders safe via the DSAB program digitising the criminal justice program paying out around 4-5 Bn pounds payments every year.

positively impacting around 14m+ people so far

working on Brexit projects – Defra Fisheries

keeping borders safe via the DSAB program

digitising the criminal justice program

paying out around 4-5 Bn pounds payments every year

We have a female co-founder running the ship from finance and operations Shilpa Kaluti and a couple of women in key leadership roles.

Consultants from #diverse nationalities – UK, Finland, Canada, France, India, China, Turkey, Ukraine.

Geographies of our clients – London, Newcastle, Blackpool, Sheffield and Manchester. Yes, we get asked about moving internationally, it’s still early days! We are exploring with clients in Germany and New York.‍

How did your time at the Business School prepare you for setting up your own business?

The best thing about the MBA: it helped me gain a holistic understanding of business and appreciate finance, marketing, strategy, change, negotiation etc. I graduated out of a full-time MBA at Imperial in 2009. It was almost a decade ago however there are so many things I learnt that are still relevant in my daily operations.

Some key highlights

Jonathan Pinto’s Organisational Behaviour and Negotiation:- Key takeaway is how to have a culture that creates a safe environment for our people and company to thrive.IED:-  Innovation Entrepreneurship & Design (IED) Programme was my favourite.Strategy by Annabel Gawer.

Jonathan Pinto’s Organisational Behaviour and Negotiation:- Key takeaway is how to have a culture that creates a safe environment for our people and company to thrive.

IED:-  Innovation Entrepreneurship & Design (IED) Programme was my favourite.

Strategy by Annabel Gawer.

Where do you see yourself and the business in 5 years time?

Our next Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) is to reach 300 people and grow in Europe.

What are the current challenges in your sector that you are facing?

Current biggest challenges in the market are IR35, Brexit and uncertain market time due to Coronavirus. Businesses more than ever need to have stronger business models to grow in these uncertain times. We are growing at a rapid pace however need to be aware of the market conditions as we see clients cut the spendings and gig economy changes happening in the UK market.

Great management thinker Clay Christensen said a few years ago that “Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption”. I think disruption is here already in terms of business models, new boutique companies shifting from integrated solution shops to modular providers, which specialize in supplying one specific link in the value chain.

Consulting on the Cusp of Disruption

Digital is bringing a big disruption where tech start-ups have swept across many markets and eroded the profits of many major enterprise companies.

Clients have become more demanding, in terms of solving user needs of the customers, pushing back against concepts such as big IT, billable hours, and requiring fixed fees and with greater transparency on costs. In an increasingly agile environment, intensified by rapid digital innovation, clients now expect more value, rapid concept to cash, design thinking, a higher quality of work, and a faster delivery of solutions and services.